Israeli woman arrested in Turkey for serving in IDF, released after US intervention

An Israeli-Turkish dual national was recently arrested while visiting her parents in Istanbul for serving in the past in the Israel Defense Forces, being held under house arrest for several days until diplomatic pressure secured her release and return to Israel, Hebrew media reported Wednesday.

The woman was apprehended under a Turkish law that prohibits serving in a foreign military, according to Channel 12 news.

Her detention came after an anti-Israel Turkish activist group published her details from a database of dual citizen Israeli soldiers gleaned from social media. The group, which reportedly focuses on female soldiers, urged Turkish authorities to arrest the woman under laws relating to genocide and crimes against humanity in connection with the Gaza war.

The woman, whose name has not been not reported, was arrested last week and held for several hours before being released to house arrest.

At that point, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar became involved, reportedly leading a diplomatic push for her to be allowed to return to Israel. The US administration also helped out, and was said to have sent a message to Turkish authorities that the woman be immediately released.

She was reportedly then permitted to leave Turkey for a third country, from where she flew back to Israel under the auspices of Israeli authorities. Sa’ar has spoken to her since she arrived back in the country, reports said.

The Turkish activism group was said to have launched its campaign after the Israeli Ynet news outlet, a week and a half ago, published figures on the number of dual nationals serving in the IDF, putting the figure at just over 50,000.

Israeli legal, military and political officials were alarmed at the incident, given the current tense relations with Turkey, Channel 12 said.

Relations between Israel and Turkey have been particularly strained since the war broke out in Gaza following the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led massacre in southern Israel.

In a separate case, earlier this month, the Foreign Ministry confirmed that an Israeli woman had been arrested in Turkey.

The woman, Avivit Amber, was arrested after allegedly desecrating the country’s flag and insulting Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and Palestine, Hebrew media outlets reported.

There have been previous incidents of anti-Israel groups seeking the arrest of Israeli soldiers visiting various countries, primarily the Hind Rajab Foundation. The foundation, a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel legal group based in Belgium and named after a 6-year-old Gazan girl killed in January 2024, has filed dozens of criminal complaints against Israeli soldiers and officials who are visiting or stationed in European countries over the past two years.

Beginning in 2024, the Hind Rajab Foundation has used social media posts by Israeli soldiers, officers and reservists to locate them in an attempt to have them arrested for alleged war crimes when they travel abroad. The group has sparked alarm within Israel, prompting the IDF to create new rules to better protect troops’ privacy and keep them from being victims of doxxing — the practice of publishing someone’s personal information online to expose them.

While the group has spurred European authorities to detain a number of IDF soldiers and forced a soldier visiting Brazil to flee back to Israel, fearing arrest, it has been unsuccessful in court, and no soldier targeted by the group has been prosecuted for war crimes or any other alleged offenses committed in Gaza.

Israel vehemently denies it has committed war crimes or genocide in Gaza, and says it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities, stressing that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas, including homes, hospitals, schools and mosques.